I offer her a halfhearted grin. “We’d all love to think that, Corinne. But, I’ll be honest, he’s a jerk, and he always has been. I know what he did to you, and I know how he treats other people in general. I’ve got no time for guys like that, even if he is my brother.”
She doesn’t blink, her eyes blazing into mine as she ponders my answer. “Did you know? I mean, before.” She sighs, frustrated by her own convoluted sentences, then tries again. “Did you know before I did that Jackson was cheating on me with my best friend?”
It’s news to me that the chick he was screwing during his time with Corinne was her best friend, but I am trying my best not to dig up anymore negative thoughts than the ones that are obviously swirling about in her pretty little head. “I had no idea what happened until long after the fact, Corinne, I swear to you.”
She’s nodding, but her gaze turns away from me. She doesn’t want sympathy; she just wants to know what to believe. And I’m pretty sure giving herself to me the way she just did has rocked her will to keep her defenses up against me.
Good, because I have every intention of keeping those walls torn down. I want to see all of Corinne—the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. Because it’s all beautiful when it’s the real Corinne.
I round the island and tilt her chin up so she’s forced to look into my eyes. “I only found out because he admitted it in front of a couple of his buddies one night when I happened to be at my parents’ place. I didn’t talk about it with him, didn’t find out any other details, and I sure as hell never gave him the disgusting high-five he was obviously looking for. The guy is a totally idiot, Corinne,” I tell her honestly. “I know he hurt you and broke your heart, but if he couldn’t see what he had with you after all those years, he didn’t deserve you.” I lean down and give her a soft kiss on the lips, a silent confirmation of the words I’m saying. “Now, why in the world are we discussing this after the earth-shattering time we just had together?”
I attempt to give her a crooked smile while letting my thumb caress over her chin and jaw. She smiles halfheartedly and sighs.
“I guess I’m just ruminating about everything, and my mind seems to be circling around the past and present, especially because they’re so interconnected. You’re so interconnected.”
She gives me a playful nudge, one that is obviously meant to make it sound like a joke, but I can tell from the haunted look in her eyes that Corinne is struggling with what we just did together. “You know what I’m going to say,” I whisper, never once looking away from her.
“You’re going to ask if I regret it,” she says weakly. “Sleeping with you.”
“Do you?”
“No,” she confesses without hesitation. “I don’t regret it, Brody.”
“Good, because that’s not what I was going to say.”
“Oh.” A hint of redness creeps into her cheeks. “What then?”
I lean down and kiss her again, reinforcing what I’m about to remind her of. “I’m not Jackson,” I whisper. “And I plan on spending a lot of time reminding you of that fact.”
“You do?” Her voice sounds hoarse now, but she’s biting down on her bottom lip to suppress her amusement. “I think I’ll like that. Spending a lot of time with you, I mean.”
“I don’t think you will,” I say, kissing her again. “I know it. Now, let me get you a coffee and see if I can remember how you take it. Because I’m going to need to know these things if you plan on keeping me around.”
Chapter Eleven
Corinne
I believe Brody. About the fact that he had no idea about Jackson’s h
eartbreaking antics until well after the fact, and about his confidence that I’m going to like spending time with him more regularly.
If the past few hours are any indication, the man is more right than he knows.
I don’t know what possessed me to take the reins and kiss him first, especially in his son’s nursery. And I don’t know why it wasn’t until that moment, until I’d seen him in the hushed, tender moments with his sleeping son, that I realized how badly I wanted him. But that’s when my desire for him bubbled over, and the need to have his mouth on mine was a compulsion I couldn’t deny.
Now that I’ve been with Brody, flesh on flesh with him buried inside me, there is no going back. It has been over two years since I bared myself to someone and gave everything I had to him, desiring him with every fiber of my being. And not only did Brody possess my body with the attentiveness and selflessness of a man who cares about me, he managed to overtake my mind, too. That in itself means more to me than I could ever put into words, because there was a time when I didn’t think that would ever be possible again. To give your body to someone is one thing—that comes down to primal instinct and physical lust—but to fall for a man who dominates your mind is another thing entirely.
He’s exactly what I’ve been hoping for, exactly what I need. I just didn’t know it until now.
Part of me wants to tell him exactly that as he drives me back to the arena parking lot to pick up my car. But I don’t, preferring to keep at least one part of myself hidden from him. Hell knows there’s been enough baring myself to him today. Better start taking it slow, or I’m going to wind up freaking myself out.
Spencer babbles to himself sporadically in the backseat, and that, coupled with the warmth of Brody’s hand in mine, does something to me.
This is how it could be, I think to myself. I could let someone in and share my life with them. Maybe even have a little family...
I quickly force that thought into the back of my mind. I shouldn’t be thinking like that; it’ll only set me up for a world of hurt later if this doesn’t turn out the way I hope it will. If things aren’t nearly as great as I think they are. If he turns out to be just like...
“Earth to Corinne.”